*This story is part of our 2010-11 Mizzou in Review series.*
The view from Missouri Students Association President Eric Woods’ office is a panoramic one. To the right stands Memorial Union, a place Woods describes as a symbol of MU’s students and the studying that goes on there. To the left, Jesse Hall is visible, representing the faculty and staff that work to educate the next generation of students. Like his office, Woods sees himself somewhere in the middle.
As MSA president, Woods is the middleman, explaining what the students want and asking what the faculty can give.
Woods said he doesn’t work off checklists. That’s not the way he does things. Other presidents have made an agenda and a list of what they want to accomplish, but Woods said that is not what he has set out to do. Yes, he has goals for what he would like to accomplish, but he does not have a master list of items he would like to complete by the end of his term.
“I want to focus on establishing personal relations and repairing relations with administrators, staff members and organizations,” Woods said. “I think I’ve been very successful in that. People have said it’s been a good step for MSA, and I’m proud to hear that.”
Former MSA President Tim Noce acknowledged Woods’s drive and ambition for the job. He said the campaign obviously went well, saying Woods showed a lot of determination to become president.
“He and Emily did a great job with the campaign, and they ended up winning,” Noce said.
As president, Woods said he believes he needs to be able to go with the flow and turn negatives into positives. Woods said he is dependent on his team to help him along the way.
“I don’t believe in the ‘I’,” Woods said. “I have a lot of capable people with me, and I would rather think it in terms of ‘we’ than ‘I.'”
Woods has become friends with those in the Student Life offices. They are there to serve the students, as he says, and he makes an effort to bond with them, whether it is by sending them all birthday cards or acting as “the recycling police” in the office.
Woods pushed for sustainability during his campaign, and he continues to support it, especially in the office. When he sees anyone throwing recyclable items in the regular trashcan, he quickly tells them recycling is always the better option. He said he believes it is those little, personal choices that will make a difference in the long run.
Woods ceased writing an MSA newsletter this semester in favor of filming short videos, a choice he was unsure about at first.
“I was really, really iffy about it,” Woods said. “I’m uncomfortable with it still, but it’s the best thing.”
MSA’s visibility is one thing Woods thinks he has improved so far. Every week, he is invited by different student organizations to attend their events, and he always accepts those invitations. As the weeks pass, the calendar on his computer becomes a bit more colorful.
“I have an interest in all the organizations on campus, and I believe the number one job of the MSA President is to be visible and responsible to all students by doing just that – going out and speaking with them,” Woods said.
Speaking with students and bringing them together serves as the foundation for One Mizzou, a campaign devoted to unifying students after the Hatch Hall vandalism. Woods said there are things he would have done differently, referring to parts of the campaign as a failure, but he also says he’s learned from this failure.
“I was not as involved with some groups as I should have been,” Woods said. “I was being a leader when what they needed was a listener.”
In the future, Woods said he has plans ranging from improving The Jungle tailgating area to benefiting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning community and other students by promoting the gender-neutral housing issue.
But when it comes to his own personal plans, Woods isn’t so sure about his goals. The MSA president is a triple major in political science, history and religious studies, and he said he would know what to do after graduation when the time comes. Until then, he said his focus remains on the student body.
“I’m confident everything I’ve done has benefited Mizzou as a whole,” Woods said. “I don’t regret anything that I’ve worked on.”